My love and respect for nature is embodied in my hooked and felted works both in theme and composition.

HOOKED ART

Traditional rug hooking is in many ways a simple technique and there are many videos and books on how to do it. I find that its simplicity can free one to be far more creative than with other fiber techniques. The same is true of felting. Likely the first hooked pieces were practical and made with yarn and then also fabric that was no longer useful for clothing but still had some life left. The early hooked creations were rugs, mats or bed rugs rather than wall art though, no doubt, some pieces were made just for pleasure.

Wool was the preferred fabric but today people use all kinds of fabrics in their work and new ideas keep materializing. Hooked art is still growing in popularity and there are relatively few artists who use the technique as compared to quilting for instance. The term “rug hooking” is a misnomer often, as far fewer people make rugs than wall art, and a universal term that reflects that has not been coined so I use the term “hooked art.”

MY JOURNEY INTO HOOKED ART

I was interested in art from a young age and started drawing early. I also learned to knit as a child. Growing up in rural Maine I was surrounded by old quilts, hooked rugs and braided rugs; they were all hand made. I took painting classes in school and studied art history when I had time. Now, when I create things, the medium that feels right for me is fiber.

Another focus in my life is nature and biology. They are also linked to my rural Maine upbringing. My formal education, including my doctoral work, centered on Biology. I spent my work life as a teacher or lab scientist. I’ve also committed much of my time to environmental works. Trying to understand nature, its complexity and how humans affect the greater world is fascinating to me and it informs my artwork.

I have always created things out of fiber and I delved into rug hooking as a technique in 1999. I live in Vermont where hooking art has a long history and is currently thriving through local hooking groups like the Green Mountain Rug Hooking Guild and the wonderful rug hooking school put on each June by Green Mountain Hooked Rugs. I also learned wet felting along the way and I love combining the two mediums.

My interest in hooking and now felting has grown into a serious pursuit. I am driven to keep experimenting and trying out new ideas. I dye a lot of my wool but also use found fabrics. I use silks in my felting that can come from discarded clothing or old scarves, etc. I do buy wool and silk as well, it just depends.

My love and respect for nature is embodied in my work both in theme and composition. Felting is done with natural fibers and creates a smooth, soft, ethereal effect while hooked fiber is more acute and less dreamy. The felting is far more serendipitous than the hooking so my brain works differently when executing each. The combination evokes something magical but also serious. We are losing much from our natural environment and thoughts of that loss are embedded in my work.

SHOWS

Fiber Arts Show, Lake Placid Center for the Arts, Lake Placid, NY, 2025 (https://www.lakeplacidarts.org/)
Canopy, AVA, Lebanon, NH, 2025 (https://avagallery.org/)
Expressive Fibers, Artistree, Pomfret, VT, 2025 (https://artistreevt.org/)
Sampler Wall Exhibit, Chaffee Art Center, Rutland, VT 2025 (https://www.chaffeeartcenter.org/)
Crossroads: Change in Rural America, Chandler Center for the Arts, Randolph, VT 2025 (https://www.chandler-arts.org/)
Trichromacy, Chandler Center for the Arts, Randolph Vermont, 2024 (https://www.chandler-arts.org/)
form+texture, AVA, Lebanon, NH 2024 (https://avagallery.org/)
Traces, Art at the Kent, Calais, Vt. 2023 (https://www.kentscorner.org/)
Transformation, Studio Place Arts, Barre, Vt. 2023 (https://www.studioplacearts.com/)
100, Attleboro Arts Museum, Attleboro, Ma. 2023 (https://attleboroartsmuseum.org/)
Pompy Hooked and Fiber Arts Show, East Thetford, Vt 2023
Piermont NH Library Show, Piermont, NH 2023
Transitions, Axel’s, Waterbury, Vt. 2022 (https://www.facebook.com/AxelsFrameShopGallery/)
Hooked in the Mountains, Vermont School of Fine Arts, Montpelier, Vt 2022 (https://gmrhg.org/)
Juried Exhibit, AVA, Lebanon, NH 2022 (https://avagallery.org/)
Threads that Bind, Brooklyn Waterfront Artist Cooperative, Brooklyn NY 2021 (https://www.bwac.org/)
Tethered by Light, AVA, Lebanon, NH 2021 (https://avagallery.org/)
Fiber Arts Show, Lake Placid Center for the Arts, Lake Placid NY 2020 (https://www.lakeplacidarts.org/)
Juried Exhibit, AVA, Lebanon, NH 2020 (https://avagallery.org/)
Hidden Messages, Chandler Center for the Arts, Randolph, Vt 2019 (https://www.chandler-arts.org/chandler-gallery)
Pompy Hooked and Fiber Arts Show, East Thetford, Vt 2019
Hooked in the Mountains, Essex Fairgrounds, Essex, Vt 2018 (https://gmrhg.org/)
Juried Exhibit, AVA, Lebanon, NH 2018 (https://avagallery.org/)
Tunbridge Library Group Show, Tunbridge, Vt 2016
Hooked in the Mountains, Essex Fairgrounds, Essex, Vt 2016 (https://gmrhg.org/)
Two-Person Shows, Towle Hill Studios, Corinth, Vt 2009, 2006 (http://www.towlehillstudio.com/)

BOOKS

Masterpiece Hooked Rugs, Janet Conner; published 2023 (https://www.jconnerhookedrugs.com/books.html)
Magnificent Hooked Rugs, Janet Conner; published 2020 (https://www.jconnerhookedrugs.com/books.html)